Wide Open Spaces!

Well, we drove all day and much of the evening, but we finally got back to St. Louis from Dubois, Wyoming. Overall, the trip back took about 18 hours. In total we put almost 3000 miles on my brand new Honda Accord. What was I thinking really?! It had 400 miles before the trip. It's ok... we broke it in and the gas mileage improved on the way home. Just a lot of bugs to clean off the front end.

My girlfriend, Angie, myself and my roommates girlfriend Ami all packed into the car to head out. Before I start, the main purpose of the trip was to visit my roommate, Brad, who is working in Wyoming this summer at a camp for at-risk youth.

Overall, the trip was amazing. I was really looking forward to it because my family and I took a similar trip probably close to 22 years ago when I was 7 or so. Our agenda this time had us drive through South Dakota where we stopped and camped one night at the Badlands National Park. It was beautiful. The first evening in the park, we went on a 5 or 6 mile hike through some of the grassy backcountry. Within the first mile, we came across a sign warning of rattlesnakes. I love to camp and see signs all the time warning of specific wildlife. When my dad and I were in Alaska, we saw warnings to keep a lookout for Bears and didn't see a single one. So I figured we wouldn't see any snakes. Well, we were climbing down one of the mountains and I went to step on a rock when I notice it is occupied by a snake and quickly maneuver in mid air to avoid stepping on it. After I land, I turn around and realize it has a fat diamond shaped head and the markings of a rattlesnake. Confused because it didn't warn us of it's presence I moved back for a closer look. Sure enough it was a rattlesnake, but he still didn't rattle. .
So I felt comfortable and took out my camera... as I was pushing the button to take the picture he start to shake his tail and turn toward me. I immediately take off. Here is the picture I got off just before. So after the Badlands we drive west to Mount Rushmore. This was a complete disappointment. We could have taken our pictures from the road outside the park and avoided paying the 10.00 entrance fee. All there really is to do here is take picture. Next we drove on to Buffalo, WY to our next campsite. I had intended to visit Devils Tower on the way, but we were anxious to get to our next campsite. Buffalo, is just outside Big Horn Mountains National Forest. This was probably my favorite stop on the trip, other than getting to visit Brad. The Big Horn Mountains were big, majestic, covered in wild flowers, bald mountain tops and wide open fields. The biggest praise was the it was virtually dead quiet with few tourists. We took two hikes and didn't see a single person on either hike. Here are a few pics.

Next we drove west out of the Big Horn Mountains and then south through Wind River Gorge. The girls laughed at me because as we decended into the gorge I noticed the river flowed the opposite direction. We were going down, down, down, and the gorge appeared to be going down with us, yet the river APPEARED to be flowing up hill. I guess it was funny because I had such a hard time wrapping my mind around this optical illusion. Finally, we arrived in Dubois, Wyoming and met up with Brad. We quickly exchanged hugs and greetings and then loaded up and drove another 2 hours west to Jackson, Wyoming and the Grand Teton National Park. Brad knew about a little used Forest Service Camping area, that was free of charge and provided the best views of the Tetons. We took his car because the one catch is that the roads are all dirt roads and 4 wheel drive is required. Once to the site though, our jaws dropped at the view. Buffalo, elk, and antelope roamed the fields around our site. It was pretty amazing! Here is the dirt road to get to our site. The next day we met up with some other friends from our church in STL who now live in Montana. They met up with us for a hike in the Grand Teton National Park. The hike was easy, but we walked through fields and fields of wild flowers up to your waist. It was beautiful. We then hopped in the car and headed back toward Dubois, WY. Here we spent time just visiting with Brad's coworkers, chatting around a campfire and admiring the amazing views of the Absorka Mountains. On Sunday, Brad and Ami, and Angie and I did our own things. Angie and I took the advice of one of Brad's best friends and did a 5 mile hike to Lake Louise. Just like everything else, the hike was beautiful with waterfalls, rushing rivers, wide open views of valleys and mountains and of course the crystal clear alpine lake at the end.

Then of course the next day, we hopped in the car and drove back to STL. I was amazed at how remote, vast, open, unoccupied, and desolate Wyoming was. I don't remember it being that way. Most of the trip was through rolling desert mountains covered in shrubby tumbleweed. But it was beautiful, and it was big, and it was empty. I loved it. I wanted to take a horse and ride off into the horizon to explore and to live like the pioneers of old. Talking to Brad's friend Jeremy who has now lived in the area for over 4 years is inspiring. He lives a simple life in beautiful land. He works for the camp during the year and then fills in at a gear store when he isn't at the camp. He hikes, skis, snowshoes, camps, hunts, gardens during his freetime. He leaves his doors unlocked all the time and knows everyone in town. His dogs head off to explore the town during the day but always return home. He talks about how you can just head off over the mountains to go hunting or hiking or camping. No permission is needed, the land isn't privately owned. It looks and sounds extremely appealing at times, but I imagine it is vary lonely too. If my family and friends all wanted to pack up and move, I might consider it, but in the end, I just really enjoyed knowing it is still there for me to visit and to dream about. Wyoming is a state with a Big Sky, Big Views, and Big Adventures.

Here are some more artistic pics I took: